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Sometimes barriers can be overcome with a bit of inspiration. The "Outside" shop in Hathersage provides this in spades! Along with selling an inspiring range of outdoor clothing and equipment, the shop also hosts talks, sponsors races and promotes a wide range of events and activities in the area. Earlier this year the shop launched the "Hope Valley Round" - a 20 mile circuit around the Peak District designed for walkers and runners - that starts and finishes at the cafe! See this link for details! Here's an account of a double round that I completed in November 2022...

I'd ran a clockwise loop of the Hope Valley Round the week before and thought, "that's not so bad - what about running an anti-clockwise loop as well?" And so shortly after 5am on a dark November morning I found myself touching the front door of Outside and setting off with a plan to finish in under 11 hours. The first hour was magical. The sky was clear and countless stars lit the way. On climbing the steep path through Callow Woods I disturbed a parliament of owls. Playing a very daring version of "chicken" some of them left it to the very last second before flying off. At one point I felt the wind from a pair of flapping wings against my face!

Outside at 5am

As I reached Bradwell the first rays of sunlight started to appear. Warmth touched my skin. It was unusually still as I climbed onto Big Moor. At this time of year there's often a steady breeze pulling at your clothes and if you're unlucky, shocks of driving rain. But it was mild and windless and in what seemed like no time at all I'd made it to the top of Winnat's Pass and the misty slopes of Mam Tor. Up on the summit I saw people for the first time that day. Wrapped up in mist they seemed like figures from another world. Descending, I waved at a group of photographers gathered at Hollins Cross -  a Peak District paparazzi - who were waiting patiently for their shots of the Hope Valley. Lose Hill quickly followed, so too, Win Hill and Nether Hurst Farm, before I finally arrived back at Outside. It was just after 10.30am - time for breakfast! The folks at the cafe quickly served up a plate of eggs, beans and toast. As I ate I thought long and hard about whether I should carry on. I'd done the round twice in a week. Wasn't that enough? Couldn't I just celebrate or at least go back to bed? My failure would go unnoticed. But no, somehow it had to be done.

With food still digesting I started slowly. Gears seemed to crunch. Getting out of first seemed like a real struggle. How could I find a way out of this? I knew I had been drinking well - there were no shortage of toilet breaks. Too hot? I was stripped to a single layer in November. Had breakfast kicked in? Probably not. A couple of gels were swallowed. Still I struggled.

A well earned breakfast!

But then something happened, a runner who I'd never met before, joined me and started talking. For an hour we ran side by side, up and down Win Hill and then over to Lose Hill and onto the Great Ridge. Sometimes we chose different paths but mostly we just stuck together. The conversation often stuttered, much of the time we moved in silence. But at least I wasn't alone. There was someone else. The mist cleared and as we headed towards Mam Tor the path started to glisten. I felt better. Shortly after the summit we said our goodbyes and I headed once more onto Great Moor.

My watch beeped. I had been on the go for nine hours. It was time for an Eccles Cake and a couple of Mince Pies. My friend Glynn called, I put him on speaker and we chatted for a few minutes. It helped to eat and think about something else.

I eventually made it to Bradwell, turned right and headed up past the church. For the first time in hours I started to pay attention to the time. I had worked on an 11 hour schedule. But somewhere between Hathersage and Hope the timings had gone awry. It had started to look like I'd need another hour, possibly two, to get around. But something had changed and the original schedule looked like it might just be possible again.

Descending Lose Hill and heading for Mam Tor

On top of Bradwell Moor I vowed to pick up the pace. It wasn't easy. I packed the poles away and made my way around the deeply puddled track to the Shatton transmitter, down and across to Offerton Hall and on through Callow Woods. With ten minutes to go, I reached the River Derwent.

The incline up to Hathersage still had to be negotiated. At this point I was being overtaken by fresh faced pensioners. On past the David Mellor factory I went, under the railway bridge and on past Moorlands House. It started to flatten out. Breathlessly I ticked off One Stop, Little John and finally, the George Hotel. Turning right I caught sight of Outside and finished with a bit of a dash. As I stumbled in through the door I was greeted by Nic. From her position behind the counter, she smiled and said, "I'm really proud of you". I mumbled something but then it all became a bit emotional.

My time? 10:57. 

Thanks to Chris Harle and the team at Outside for devising such a wonderful adventure!

The first of the "Barriers..." posts can be found here.

Barriers (Part 5) can be found here.

Thanks for reading this post. If this is your thing why don't you take a look at other posts on the blog? Better still, why not join the British Mountain Medicine Society? More information can be found here

For more information about the University of Central Lancashire's Diploma in Mountain Medicine (DiMM) take a look at this.